Unity on Graphics Downgrades:Setting Expectations Too High Can Backfire;Don't Develop on High-End PC

Unity's Mathieu Muller gave a piece of advice to game developers on graphics downgrades: expectations have to be managed and development shouldn't happen on high-end PCs.

[ccgr]

That's good advice, easier to scale up than down

[never4get]

Realistic Lighting > Realistic Models. Developers needs to be Enlighten.

[Alexious]

Global Illumination is certainly one of the most important aspects in game development right now.

[Jman2]

This is incorrect, it is easier to scale down than to scale up. All the assets for the game should be produced at the highest quality achievable then scaled down to fit the needs of the console. If you create a texture at a lower resolution then realize the settings of the console or PC are higher than you predicted scaling that texture up would result in it becoming blurry/ pixelated and worse then the lower quality version, if however your produce it at the highest resolution you can freely scaled down to any resolution without the same pixelated impact occluding. With 3D models this happens anyway most models are millions of polygons and then retoplogised and baked to the low poly model.

The issue is developers show the higher resolution content based off the highest end workstations then people get disappointed that they don't look the same on release. That's the main problem and it needs to stop.

[FPS_D3TH]

Not if you drop a high end graphics trailer only to release in lower quality later. Kids these days screaming downgrade is not only pathetic but they're usually the most vocal online and the game starts to get a bad rep.

[Aurenar]

The Witcher III was downgraded a bit, yes. But that didn't stop it from being the best game ever made!

[Alexious]

I don't know if it's the best game ever made, but it's certainly one of the best I ever played.

[Lamboomington]

The best game ever made will always be a subjective thing. For some people TW3 can definitely be the best game ever played :)

[sullynathan]

lmao at TW3 being the best game ever or even being considered anywhere near being the best game ever. only on N4G.

[starchild]

Oh look, it's the salty Souls fanboy here hating on The Witcher 3 again.

I would love to know what you think is the best game ever made. I bet it's some crappy game that epitomizes your hipster tastes.

[sullynathan]

Oh look, it's the salty witcher fanboy here hating on me again.

I would love to know what you think is the best game ever made. I bet it's some crappy story "game" that epitomizes your crap tastes.

[sleepyhead]

The salty witcher hateboy strikes again. Where are ur partners btw?

[nitus10]

Basically, what you said is subjective.

If you like Action RPG's then TW3 sets the bar for that genre that much higher. Of course, if you don't like RPG's in general then TW3 is not for you.

[Garethvk]

Looks very good.

[annoyedgamer]

Crysis (2007) with mods still looks better than most games released today. That's sad.

[Crimzon]

I can't comment on how Crysis looks with mods since I only played the base game as-is but I would say that Uncharted 4 genuinely does surpass it. It's also a great comparison given that both are set in tropical jungle locations, which makes it easy to compare the two. Obviously Crysis can go up to 60fps and 4K etc. but the jungle/tropical settings in the latter half of Uncharted 4 are spectacular, and have a lot more care and artistry put into the foliage and unique assets scattered around the environment.

I don't know how Crysis 3 stacks up however since I don't have the hardware to run it on max, so maybe that looks superior, but if you love the eye candy and setting in the original Crysis then you'd really appreciate Uncharted 4 once Drake reaches the islands.

[annoyedgamer]

No console game with background sprites has surpassed Crysis. That includes Uncharted 1 - 4. All od Son'y exclusives use these tactics to make their games look better on the limited processing power of consoles.

[Vegamyster]

They trade blows in certain areas, Character models, animation & texture quality is better in UC4 but it doesn't have the same thick, fully destructible jungles/buildings. There is simple lighting mods like the blackfire one that makes it look more colorful & adds a bit of blur to the background but the game looks drastically different with almost no effect on performance, this gif is a good example: http://media.moddb.com/imag...

[garrettbobbyferguson]

I wouldn't say it's sad. Moreso it shows how advanced Crysis actually is and how capable it is. The sad part is that developers and publishers prioritize unnecessary graphical qualities instead of performance now.

[Yui_Suzumiya]

Uncharted 4? Beyond: Two Souls? Crysis 3?

[Unspoken]

Yeah, I'm amazed how good Crysis still looks. Every graphics card upgrade I punch it up at a higher resolution, throw on 3D do a play through sitting in front of the big screen.

[Timesplitter14]

That's just because these mods target only the ultimate highest-end hardware, which isn't the case for commercial games.

It's kinda like UE4 tech demos. It makes you believe this engine is magically 10x better looking than everything else, but that's just because these demos are made to run on a GTX 980 Ti. When people make actual commercial games with UE4, you get stuff like Street Fighter 5 and Ark: Survival Evolved

[garrettbobbyferguson]

What about Unreal Tournament or The Mean Greens? Those games both run on UE4 and look absolutely fantastic. Do you even understand what a tech demo is?

[Alexious]

That's bullshit. Crysis was the best looking game for 4-5 years after its release, but it's been long since surpassed.

[annoyedgamer]

Show me a game that looks better without resorting to visual trickery then. It rules out all console games immediately. The closes you will find is Metro Last Light. The fake tech demos of Far Cry 3, Watchdogs and Uncharted were promising but when they were downgraded to look par with consoles they never looks as good.

[medman]

I'm annoyed with you, gamer.

[sullynathan]

if you have to say "with mods" then it can be said for most other games too.

[nitus10]

I have played the original Crysis on PC and was impressed by the graphics. Personally, I did not like playing Crysis since I have never been into FPS games although I don't have any issue with first person perspective RPG's.

Good Graphics can make a good game (subjective) look and feel better but if you don't like that type of game then the graphics are effectively wasted on you.

[notachance]

'with mods'.. lol, why are you even comparing something that's fixed (base game) with something that keeps improving (mods), that's not how comparison works. If you want to compare it with mods, compare it with the gameplay before downgrade, that's what they are capable of if they don't need to care about market fragmentation just like modders do.

Besides, do you even business bro? game developers have to prioritize markets before graphics, they have to make sure their game reaches certain portion of markets while modders don't need to care about limitation, I'm sure if developers have the freedom to make their graphics as good as possible without any hardware limitations modders won't stand a chance.

[Frisky]

Well I have to partially agree here. But still, expectations are raised by the developer themselves when they show spiced up trailers of their upcoming game, which, when released, is nothing compared to the so called "real time" or "captured in-engine" gameplay footage trailers.

[Chris_Wray]

Advice that the AAA industry needs to think about. Ubisoft have been hit with it more than anybody over the past few years, as mentioned, with Watch_Dogs, Ass Creed Unity, Division and more. The advice applies to everybody and they need to learn it.

[starchild]

AC Unity looks just as good as the trailers. It's easily one of the best looking games I've seen too.

[Chris_Wray]

Assassin's Creed Unity was downgraded though. Yes, it does look fantastic, but compared to what they were showing as footage, even saying it would be that for consoles, was complete rubbish to what it was when finally released. The advantage for me is that I'm a PC gamer, so I generally do get to see the games as they are shown at such as E3, but it doesn't change the fact that companies don't really give a true representation at the shows.

[Movefasta1993]

Unity still looks incredible on pc though,like reallyyy reallyyy good.Especially if you get it to run at 60,the game is solid.

[Timesplitter14]

The article's about Unity the game engine, not Assassin's Creed Unity

[Movefasta1993]

oops

[RegorL]

Supposing your development takes a few years you could start on high end (if you avoid to upgrade).
Produce trailers in engine (real time) on that machine.

If game is delayed enough you will be able to hit your target quality.

But take a look at Battlefield 1 trailer, in engine (beginning of video), target rendering is XBox One! (end of video)

[ONESHOTV2]

"Don't Develop on High-End PC" this is not the devs problem if the consumer product(console) can't keep up who is to blame but the ones that created a gaming machine that can't keep up with today technology who told them to go cheap

[Moe-Gunz]

That's a dumb comment. The solution is to develop on high end but when showing the game off specify what it's running on. Don't be at a Sony press conference showing off a game that will be on PS4 and have it running on a beastly specced PC.

However, you don't understand the console market if you say dumb things like you said above.

[ONESHOTV2]

you are right i dont understand the console market because i try to get the latest PC parts that comes out. the reason why so many games are being downgraded is because the consoles are underpowered my friend think outside of that small box you guys lock yourself into people like you i would hate to know because if something doesnt benefits you wouldn't want anyone else to get it. because they show pc gameplay and you know it won't run on your console is that a good reason for someone with a more powerful hardware not to have it?

[Moe-Gunz]

You're making assumptions about me for no reason. I never said if it doesn't benefit me I'll be upset. I'm glad PC gamers get the best thier rigs can offer. When I say you don't understand the console market I'm saying you're making it seem like manufacturers like Sony and MS are just being cheap when in reality they're trying to hit a certain price range that sells. The console market is different than the PC market.

Now when I say they should be upfront about what it's running on I'm saying like how ND does. You see "running on PS4" on their reveal. Showing off the PC version at a MS or Sony conference immediately gives off the vibe that is what they can expect on their system. Subsequently we're met with downgrade claims. Just be clear about what it's running on and people will be fine.

Again don't assume I'm someone who doesn't like what benefit me. You look like an idiot assuming and painting me in a light in which I don't belong. Hate being mischaracterized to fit someone's agenda.

P.S: for the record, I do believe developers should develop on high-end PCs.

[antikbaka]

sure it's good advice..for those who doesn't do it intentionally or believes they won't get away with it. But RED is another story

[Phil32]

Very good advice and a fun read!